About 10 years ago, when George Salem was in his mid-50s, a friend invited him to play a round of golf. He accepted the invitation - even though the associate professor in the USC Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy had never taken golf seriously. A former college football player, he favored more vigorous sports like snowboarding, basketball and rugby.
But when he joined his friend's foursome, Salem found himself riveted by the action on the greens and fairways. The course was crowded with silver-haired players, manyin their 80s and 90s. He struck up conversations with individuals who had survived cancer and strokes, undergone hip and knee replacements, and were grappling with Parkinson's disease. And during play, these older golfers left Salem in the dust.
"I was amazed at how much better at golf they were than I was," he says. "But more importantly, I was amazed at how they could get in and out of a sand trap, climb hills, track a ball and mentally strategize which club to use and how to shoot."
An expert in exercise and aging, Salem wondered if golf itself was helping to keep these players physically robust and cognitively sharp despite their health challenges. Right there on the links, a new research direction was born. ¶ For millennia, humans have been searching for ways to extend life and remedy the ravages of aging, pursuing mythical springs, miracle elixirs and science-based biohacks. In recent decades, as life expectancies have increased, the desire to thrive as we age has only intensified.
But quality-of-life challenges still loom for an older adult population growing at an unprecedented pace. This includes rising rates of age-related chronic diseases, social isolation and elder abuse.
Now an avid golfer and director of the USC Institute for Therapeutic Golf Science, Salem is among the many USC scholars in wide-ranging fields whose innovative research is meeting these challenges head-on - and redefining the path to longevity in the process. Whether leveraging science and technology or harnessing the power of community, USC researchers are making leading-edge discoveries that can guide the choices we make today for a healthier and happier tomorrow.
"USC is uniquely positioned to chart new territory in our understanding of longevity and healthy aging," says Pinchas Cohen, dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, which is the nation's first and largest educational institute on aging. "We are unmatched in our constellation of resources to support patients, families and caregivers and develop visionary new ways to increase both lifespan and healthspan - years spent free of disease."
